The Tyrant
by kristen.barker.54
Summary: Marluxia is an evil king to a desolate wasteland that he created in his insanity. Kind of dark.
1. Chapter 1

He was a monster, a twenty one year old king to a once beautiful kingdom that he turned into a wasteland. It was all intentional, all in his own design, and he prided himself in the land where everyone feared the very mention of his name; Marluxia.

All who dared defy him were killed along with their families, and a select few had their skulls hanging on the stakes bordering the outside of the kingdom. All of his would be assassins were either killed at his hands, or waiting on death row to be killed. He found it a fun pastime.

He knew his parents would strongly disapprove of his ways; they had been the ones to build the kingdom into its once beautiful state. His mother had been kind and loving, she would go down into the village once a week and give meals to the orphans, and his father had been wise and generous, giving money to the poor and negotiating settlements before things busted out into full blown war. Marluxia thought that idea was stupid now. Now, he used people as mere objects, as toys, he used his power for his own selfish motives, and he killed just for the sake of killing. Many people said he went full on crazy after he took over, they said he kicked himself right in the face, and, usually, those people ended up dead at his feet.

For all his rotten ways, he was handsome, had a twinkle in his eyes, and a sugary smile. He had a slender face, high cheekbones, cat-like ocean blue eyes, a straight nose, and perfectly shaped lips, he was tall at six foot six, broad, and his most unique feature was his odd dull pink hair that fell in ruffles to his shoulders. One wouldn't expect a man who looked and spoke like him to be the ruler of such a desolate wasteland.

On this particularly dreary day, Marluxia sat in his throne room, his head resting on one of his gloved hands, and with his other he played with the balls of light he had the power of conjuring. In short, he was bored. He hadn't got to kill anyone lately, and it was getting on his nerves. He had half a mind to just kill one of his subjects to dispel his boredom even a little bit. A knock sounded on the huge wooden doors leading to the throne room and Marluxia snapped, "What?" his deep voice echoing throughout the large room.

"We have a traitor for you, your majesty!" At this news, Marluxia felt his lips curl up into his pretty yet cruel smile.

"Bring them in."

The doors opened and two of his soldiers came in with a girl who wasn't struggling against them—Marluxia found this strange—and they threw her down on the steps leading to his throne. "The girl is charged with speaking out against your reign, your highness."

"She doesn't agree with me?" Marluxia asked, leaning forward and resting his chin on his folded hands. "And why not?" The girl remained silent, keeping her gaze on the red carpet on the steps. One of the soldiers kicked her.

"Answer him, wench!" After a moment she said in a quiet, pretty voice,

"Who does agree with him?" Marluxia narrowed his eyes.

"Elaborate."

The girl looked at him with big, green eyes and said, "Aren't you just going to kill me?" He smiled.

"Haven't you ever seen a man in the Bear Ring?" The Bear Ring here was a fenced in ring where Marluxia would sometimes throw in traitors to be mauled by a bear. "The bear doesn't kill the man right away. He plays with him a little, so come on. Let's play." Marluxia stood and walked down to her, gripping her chin and making her look at him. "Why aren't you showing fear, girl?"

"I'm not about to give you the pleasure of seeing me afraid of you," she replied. Marluxia was surprised that she kept eye contact with him, and he cocked his head.

"Tell me how you went against me." He said slowly.

The girl stared at him for a moment. "You want to know?" she asked.

"Yes," he growled.

"I'll tell you. Everything you do, everything, is disgusting. You kill just because you feel like it, or you're bored, you take children away from their parents for no good reason, and you burn down the houses of people who did nothing wrong. All I did is say I disagree with what you do. But earlier you said elaborate. So I did."

His eyes narrowed into little slits, and he stood, ramming his boot into her side in the process. She fell on her back, and gave no sound. He didn't like that. He kicked her again and again, and while her face registered that he was indeed hurting her, she still gave no sound, not a grunt, not a yelp, not even a little sound in her throat. So he kicked her harder, knocking her down to the floor below the steps. "Put her in the dungeon," he growled. "I'm not done with her yet."

…

Mia wasn't thrown into the dungeon like she expected she'd be. The soldiers she was traded off to were surprisingly kind to her, they apologized over and over for what they had to do, and one of them even promised they'd smuggle part of their dinner to her later. Her wrists were indeed chained to the stone wall behind her, but not painfully, thank God, and although she was terrified, she remained calm.

Before she could see the nice soldiers again, the door to the dungeon opened and there stood the king, his body and face darkened from the contradicting light from the hall behind him, and dark from the large room in front of him. She watched him as he walked down to her, and she turned her eyes away when he leaned down to look at her. "Look at me," he commanded in an emotionless voice. Hesitantly, she did. "What is your name?" Swallowing, she replied,

"Mia,"

"Mia," he repeated. "Such a lovely name. Do you know mine?"

"Marluxia," she whispered. He nodded.

He unchained her, and she pulled her wrists down to rub them. "Why didn't you just kill me in that room?" she asked him. "I told you how I defied you,"

"I know you did," Marluxia replied with that sugary smile. "But you didn't show me pain when I kicked you." She raised a red eyebrow.

"That's why you didn't kill me?"

"That's right."

"So…you'll kill me if I show you that you're hurting me?"

"Maybe."

He grabbed her arm and turned, pulling her toward the stairs leading away from the dark dungeon, and she blinked in the brightness of the hallway he yanked her to. "Do you really have fun with this?" she asked him. "Do you get some kind of sick kick out of seeing others suffer?" He threw her to the ground and held her there with his foot.

"Yes," he snarled. "What's it to you?" She stared blankly up at him.

"It isn't." Glaring at her, he removed his foot and said,

"Get up." When she didn't make a move, he rammed his foot into her side like before. "I said get up!" Slowly, Mia obeyed, ignoring the screaming pain in her side as she pulled herself to her feet. "There. Isn't it better when you just obey me?" She didn't answer, and when he took her roughly by her arm she knew she'd get a bruise from it.

"Where are you taking me?" Mia feared he was going to take her to some torture room, or, even worse, take her to his chambers, and her heart jumped. She'd be damned if she let him rape her. When he didn't respond, she pulled on her arm and said, "If you think I'm going to let you do anything like that to me you might as well just lop my head off right here," she growled. "I am not your toy!" Marluxia turned and smiled.

"You're a fighter I see. Don't worry, pretty girl. I won't do anything to you right now. Right now, I merely want to take you to your room." Mia blinked.

"My what?" Marluxia's smile widened.

"Your room, darling."

He pulled on her arm once before moving again, guiding her up a set of spiral stone steps to a single door at the top, which he opened. The room was large and surprisingly clean; then again, Mia noticed that Marluxia's castle was pretty immaculate. He must've been a clean freak when it came to his own abode.

The bed in front of the large window was big enough for four people at least, and covered with beautiful blue silken sheets and fluffy pillows, the dresser was a grey white and had beautiful flowery designs on it, and Mia noticed it had a matching wardrobe to accompany it. The desk against the wall near the door didn't match the rest of the furniture, but she could tell it had been used a lot in the past, for a nearly empty bottle of ink still resided on it, along with a small stack of yellowed papers.

"Why…why would you…give me this room?" she whispered, looking back at Marluxia. His smile was sinister.

"I told you I like to play. And I am going to play with you for a while. Might as well give you a room right?" Mia's heart stuttered, but she refused to let him see her fear of him. He leaned down and brushed his lips against her temple before leaving, shutting the door and locking it behind him.

…

Marluxia was unable to sleep that night, which was unlike him. Usually he was out like that in the red light of a fire burning somewhere in the village, but tonight, he just couldn't find it in him to finally fall asleep. It was that damn girl. Mia. Her child-like face kept creeping into his thoughts. Her round face, wide, emerald eyes, upturned nose, and full, pink lips kept showing up no matter how hard he tried to push it away. The thought kept whispering to him, but he ignored it as hard as he could. _You want her. You know you do. But she hates and fears you, so you can never have her. Doesn't that piss you off, Marluxia? Doesn't it anger you? _Well, yes it angered him, but he didn't feel like doing anything about it right now.

He had a busy day tomorrow; kill five of the men waiting on death row, go into the village to watch his subjects tremble in fear, interrogate one of his soldiers suspected of treason, and then, of course, deal with Mia. He had a feeling that last one would alternate positions with the other things he had scheduled. But he didn't want to kill Mia. He wasn't exactly sure if he ever would, if he would just keep her in his castle as his own personal toy, even if she claimed she was nothing of the sort. She would soon understand that she was his. _His. _

He fell asleep on this thought.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a while before Mia was allowed out of her room to bathe the next morning. The only person in the castle to have the key to her room was Marluxia, and apparently he had more important things to do until ten in the morning than to let Mia out. He was probably sleeping.

Until that time, she had looked at the desk by the door.

The yellowed papers had writing on them, and, although faded, Mia could just make out what they said:

_Our son has been exhibiting some strange behavior lately. He takes his passed sister's dolls and lops their heads off, smiling as he does this odd deed, and then he hangs their bodies upside down from his sister's old doll house. _Just like the so-called traitors…_My wife and I worry of our Marluxia, and we figure if we keep things calm and somewhat the same, make sure he doesn't notice too much change, his mental state will remain stable. If we cannot accomplish this, who knows what will become of our son's mind? _Mia knew. Their son's mind would snap and he'd become the most feared tyrant in the land.

_The thing we've feared the most has become a reality. Our ten year old son murdered his nanny today, and when restrained, he struggled and screamed, he cursed and he tried to cut the soldier with the knife he used on his nanny. Marluxia is obviously not well. I do not know what caused him to kill poor Nadia, but it has become clear now; we must put our beloved son in isolation. I do not want my only son to be secluded away from other people, but what choice do I have? He is a threat to others as well as himself, and I cannot allow him to kill any more innocent people. _Too late now…_I cannot help but wonder…where did we go wrong with Marluxia? Is it even a fault of our parenting, or a fault of his mind? He has never experienced any traumatic event, so why would he be so sick in the head? I do not know for certain, but I cannot allow this behavior. I need to figure out how to deal with a child that clearly has a form of mental insanity._

The lock turning on the door made Mia quickly stop reading, and Marluxia walked in, pushing the door so it was open only a crack, and he looked at Mia. "What are you doing?" he asked pleasantly. She cocked an eyebrow, an action he couldn't see behind her red bangs.

"Waiting to be let out so I can take a bath," she replied flatly. He smiled.

"You're not hungry?"

"I never said I wasn't. But I've always been hungry, so what's the point?" Huh. Marluxia never noticed until now, but Mia was a bit skinny. Not grotesquely skinny, but still a bit too skinny for her height and age.

She stared at him with her pale arms crossed for a moment before she said, "Can I go now?" Narrowing his eyes he replied,

"Fine. But go straight to the dining hall when you're finished. I'll know if you don't." Then, just like last night, he leaned down and kissed her temple, turned, and left, this time, leaving the door open for her. She swallowed tightly before leaving to find the bathroom.

"I never said anything like that! Niles is the one who went against you, not me!" Marluxia watched with an evil smirk on his face as each soldier in the room sold each other out. But there was one man standing in the corner, one man no one chose to lie about, and he had kept his mouth shut the entire time.

"What about you, over there?" Marluxia called over the men's voices. They all grew quiet and looked at the man who slowly brought his eyes to meet the king.

"I choose death before dishonor, your highness. I will not sell any of my comrades out, and will accept their accusations even if I did nothing wrong."

"Go out with your dignity?" Marluxia concluded with a smile. "See, gentlemen, how proud this man is? So you all realize, that even though you had done nothing wrong, that it was Zion I was originally interrogating, you all began to turn on each other like a pack of rabid wolves. I can't have men like this in my army, you see,"

Marluxia stood, going over to the wall by the heavy metal door and picking up his favorite weapon; a massive scythe that he used to tear through people's skin, muscle, and bone. With a smile that grew soulless and savage, he spun and impaled the man nearest him on the blade. Blood squirted from the man's mouth and onto Marluxia as he yanked the blade from him and continued on, eventually laughing from all this enjoyment. When the once fighting soldiers were quieted for eternity, Marluxia looked at the soldier who remained quiet the entire time. "Do you have a family?" he asked.

"A wife," the man replied. "And two small children." Marluxia nodded.

"Go home. Never come back." When the man didn't move he yelled, "Now! Before I change my mind!" The soldier nodded and bowed before leaving the bloody room and the sick king behind him. Forever.

…

Mia sat at the dining table, slightly confused as to why Marluxia had ordered her there when there was no food anywhere in sight, and her stomach rumbled. "Hush," she hissed to her starving stomach. She heard the doors to the room open and close and she turned to see Marluxia, covered in blood, and her stomach jumped. Suddenly, she wasn't so hungry anymore. Actually, she felt like she needed to find a bathroom, and quick.

But she stayed frozen, staring at Marluxia as he walked closer to her, and when he reached her, he raised his left hand; she flinched, fearing he'd hit her. Instead, he brushed her hair back from her face and kissed her temple. _Why does he do that? _She wondered. But she didn't dare ask him aloud. "Why did you flinch?" He whispered, his breath tickling her ear.

"Reflex," She replied in the same tone, trying to fight her strong urge to tremble.

"Are you going to do that every time I reach for you?"

"I don't know," Her heart was beating so fast she was sure Marluxia could hear it, and when he chuckled in her ear she couldn't stop from shivering. _Oh God he likes my fear. _

He pulled back from her and said, "Look at me." Hesitantly, she did, trying her best to ignore the blood on his face. Smiling slowly, he asked, "Are you afraid of me?" Mia just stared at him, feeling her eyes sting with a fresh wave of tears. _No, Mia, do _not _let him see you cry. _Do not _let him see you cry. _She scolded herself. His smile managed to get wider and he swiped a finger across her cheek, wiping away the tear that had somehow slipped out of her right eye without her knowing. "You're so pretty when you cry," he said gently.

And she was.

Her wide eyes glassy, her cheeks a dull shade of red, and her full lips parted, trying to pull in air so she could hope to breathe normally. "You killed someone, didn't you?" she gasped, hating the tears that slid down her face. "You killed more than one person."

"Yes I did," he replied nonchalantly. "Five men, to be exact. But it might interest you to know that I let one go," Swallowing, Mia whispered,

"What made him so special?" Marluxia leaned in closer to her and replied, voice low,

"He has a wife, and children, for one. And most importantly, he kept his damn mouth shut the entire time." Mia gasped in air, her brow furrowing as the extreme urge to break down took her over. Did Marluxia actually have a heart somewhere inside him?

He made a noise of satisfaction, his lips turning upward into that cruel smile, and he whispered, "I love this." Maybe he didn't have a heart after all. "Are you hungry, Mia?" He asked softly. Her stomach answered for her with the loudest growl either of them had ever heard, and he chuckled. "Alright then. Wait here."

He brought her a plate of orange slices, toast, and eggs. She had a feeling he didn't prepare the meal himself, but was a little appreciative that he took it upon himself to bring it to her. Of course she knew he had ulterior motives to this. Her eyes went from the plate to him, the plate to him, and he smiled. "What, do you think I poisoned it?" She just stared at Marluxia, and he shook his head, that smile still on his face. He took a piece of orange and popped it into his mouth, chewing it a few times then swallowing, opening his mouth afterward so she could see that he had indeed swallowed it. "I'm not going to poison you, my darling. That wouldn't be much fun at all, now would it?" Mia looked away from him and down to the food, hesitantly taking a piece of orange herself and taking a bite from it. It was good. She wondered where he got this food considering that most of the farmland around the kingdom was barren now.

"Answer my question from earlier, Mia. Are you afraid of me?" She swallowed a bite of egg and slowly nodded, looking up at him, noticing his eyes were dancing with that strange twinkle. "Say it," he said in a low voice. She looked up at him, her usually wide eyes narrowed into little slits.

"Isn't it enough that you know? I don't want to say it." Marluxia slowly stood, leaning down to her so their noses were almost touching and he said,

"I don't really care if you don't want to _say _it, Mia. I want to _hear _it." Clenching her jaw for a moment, she said,

"Well too bad."

Face perfectly straight, he said, "Bad girl." Then slapped her.

She fell to the floor, biting her lip as she tried to ignore the stinging pain in her face. Still, she looked up at him and said, "I'm not a dog,"

"You're not," he agreed, confused.

"Then don't call me 'bad girl'!" she cried. "What, if I do something good will you say 'good girl'?" As she glared at him, he stared at her for a moment, then shrugged.

"I guess you're right." Mia's face registered shock.

"What?"

"I said I guess you're right," Marluxia repeated, smirking. He walked over to her and pulled her up to her feet. "Come."

He pulled her through the castle to the double doors leading to the village outside, and Mia swallowed. Everyone probably thought she was dead by now. "Where are you taking me?" she whispered.

"To the town, of course."

"Why?" Marluxia gave her a look, but didn't answer, and he pushed the doors open.

Once outside, he gripped her little waist and lifted her onto his favorite white horse, the horse he had actually had since it was a foal. He got on behind her and asked, "Will people be surprised you're still alive?" as they began moving.

"Of course they will," she replied. She felt him smile and jumped and gasped when he nipped her ear. He chuckled; he still couldn't believe she didn't get that she was his.

Mia kept her eyes on the horse's mane as they entered town, trying to avoid the immediate stares; first they went to Marluxia, then her. She heard people whisper, "How is she still alive?" and "She doesn't know how lucky she is.". Then she heard, "Mia!" And looked up to the familiar voice.

"Mark," Her face grew into a smile, and she didn't notice that Marluxia's grip on her hips tightened.

Mark ran up to the horse and she held out her hand; he grabbed it. "You don't know how happy I am to see you alive,"

"Who is that?" Marluxia growled.

"My older brother Mark," Mia replied. He glanced at Marluxia before looking back at his sister; Marluxia noticed their eyes were the same color.

"Kiera has been asking for you,"

"Oh," Mia gave a rueful smile. "I wish I could see her. I miss her too," Mark nodded with a smile, then, his face grew serious and he looked the king dead in the eye and said,

"Don't you dare hurt her." Marluxia smiled evilly, and Mia bumped him with her elbow. _He's all I have left._


	3. Chapter 3

"Your brother is a marvelous man," Marluxia commented most sarcastically when they returned to the castle.

"Leave him alone," Mia said. "It's enough that you have me, don't take him away from his little girl. He only wants me safe. I'm the only family he has and up until today he thought I was dead."

"He has his child,"

"And he loves her, but it's not the same as having someone you grew up with around, knowing that they're safe. We were all each other had after our parents died…he pretty much raised me."

Marluxia frowned. "He raised you?"

"Yes. Our father died before I started remembering things, but…but I know he died in the Bear Ring," Marluxia blinked. But he didn't start using the Bear Ring until he was fifteen, and Mia was at least two or three years younger than him, so that put her at twelve or thirteen. She didn't start remembering things until after that? "And our mother died in a village fire when I was thirteen."

"Why don't you remember being twelve?" She stared at him blankly then replied,

"Maybe it's because I didn't want to remember seeing all the death."

Marluxia narrowed his eyes.

"Do you hate me?" he asked her.

"You want to know the answer?"

"Yes."

"Then yes. I hate you." Marluxia smiled.

"Good."

"How can you like that I hate you?" Mia cried, whipping around to face him. Smiling, he leaned down and kissed her temple.

"I think it makes things interesting." Before he left, she grabbed his wrist.

"Why do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"You know what!"

"Well would you rather I did this?"

He took her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers.

She drew in a sharp gasp and her eyes widened, and after a few seconds he pulled away, smiling when he saw the flush of pink across her cheeks. "You would."

"You-you-you just…just c-caught me off guard," she stuttered stupidly. His smile widened, and he leaned down to kiss her again, this time more fully. Mia didn't know why, but she couldn't help but open her lips for him, to respond to him, and a little moan vibrated in her throat. But she couldn't…she couldn't let him do this to her. She pushed away from him, backing away and bumping her hip into the table against the wall and refusing to look at him.

"Come here, Mia,"

"No," she gasped.

"Mia,"

"No!"

She heard the soft thunk of his boots as he walked over to her, and when he reached her, she squinted her eyes shut, turning her head to hopefully discourage him from hitting her. "You're disobeying me, girl." He said disapprovingly. To this, she gave no response. "Go to your room." Sucking in her lips and feeling much like a child, she went to her room as she was told.

…

She sat on her bed, holding onto her ankles and just staring at the sheets when she heard the door open. She didn't need to look up to know it was Marluxia. "Do you know why I haven't killed you?" he asked her. She shook her head. "Well I don't either." To this she looked up, frowning.

"What?" His hands were on his hips and his eyes were narrowed.

"You know I kill anything that pisses me off, yet even though you piss me off twofold, I haven't. You disobey, you're a smart mouth, you speak when no one has spoken to you, and I put up with it. Why?" He walked over to her, and she cringed away when he reached her. "Maybe I do know. Maybe, just maybe, it's because you are _mine._" Mia's eyes widened and her lips parted in shock.

"I…I am _not _property," she whispered angrily. "I am _not _a pet. I am a human being!" Marluxia smiled.

"Fair enough."

He walked over to the desk where one of the candles that lit the room and blew it out, then did the same with the one by Mia's bed. "What are you doing?" Instead of answering her, he pushed her to her back and covered her up.

"I'm done talking about it, Mia," he said in a low voice. "You and I both know who's right here."


	4. Chapter 4

Mia had barely had time to get comfortable before nature called, so she had to get up and try to pick the lock on her door. So far, it wasn't going in her favor. "Come on, come on, I really have to pee!" she hissed. She'd been using the ink pen from the desk to try and pick the lock, and she was afraid she might break it.

Just as she was about to give up and kick the door, it unlocked.

With a triumphant smile, she peeked out the crack of the door to see nothing blocking her path, so she left, hurrying down to the one bathroom that she knew for certain existed. After she had done her business and she left the bathroom, still feeling awesome, she heard a loud scream from down the hall, and she spun around, suddenly very worried.

She followed the screams down to the very last room down a small flight of stairs, and she knew, she just knew, that this was Marluxia's room. Taking a deep breath, she opened the heavy wooden door, and in the dim light, she saw the sheets on Marluxia's bed move, and an arm thrashed out, knocking over the glass lamp on the end table. Mia thought her heart had beat as fast as it could when she first laid eyes on him, but no, it was thudding so fast in her chest she thought it was going to jump out of her ribcage and run away screaming. As she walked closer to the bed, Marluxia kicked the covers off himself. She saw his chest, arms, and face was covered in sweat, and his face looked like it was showing pain. Was he in pain?

Breathing rapidly, she shook him. "Marluxia," she whispered. No response. He still remained asleep, still remained trapped in whatever was hurting him, and she shook him harder. "Marluxia, wake up," she said louder. He cried out again, and she cried, "Marluxia!" It was then when things got bad.

Marluxia's eyes shot open, but they were still glazed in sleep, and he swung his arm, catching Mia by her waist and throwing her twenty feet to hit the stone wall behind her; something in her cracked, and she hit the floor, unmoving. Slowly, Marluxia caught his breath and came back to reality, sitting up and shaking his head. Sniffing, he looked over to the floor where Mia's unconscious body lie, and he cocked his head. "Mia," he said. She didn't respond. She didn't even twitch. Slowly Marluxia stood and walked over to her. "Mia, get up," he commanded. Still, she didn't respond. "I said get up!" He bumped her with his foot, but she still didn't respond.

He kneeled down to her and shook her hard, stopping when he heard something inside her crack. "Mia?" He turned her over and poked her cheek. "Wake up. Why aren't you listening to me?" He didn't understand. What'd he do? Well he figured if he didn't have the answer then Lethe, a man he'd grown up with and the only man he semi-trusted, would possibly.

Marluxia knew Lethe's door was locked—not even Lethe trusted him—so he didn't take the time to knock; his arms were full with Mia's little body so like he even could knock. He kicked the door in and Lethe bolted up, his long blond hair a mess and his grey eyes glazed in sleep. "Wha?"

"Lethe, make Mia wake up," Marluxia commanded, plopping her onto Lethe's bed. He shook his head. Sometimes Marluxia was worse than a child when he didn't get his way…

"Marluxia, what did you do?" He looked over Mia once and even in the dark he could tell something was not right.

"She woke me up. I threw her across the room," he said as if it was nothing. Lethe looked up at his king.

"Were you having a nightmare, sire?" He asked softly. Marluxia's eyes narrowing answered his question.

Lighting a candle, Lethe said, "You threw her against a stone wall, I presume?"

"Yes," Marluxia answered emotionlessly.

"Well then don't you think that maybe the impact from being thrown so hard knocked her out?" Lethe looked back at Mia and ran his hands down her arms and legs. Nothing felt out of the ordinary there. It was when he touched her ribcage that he knew; Marluxia had broken at least four of her ribs. "Sire…you broke her," he mumbled.

"Broke her?" Marluxia repeated.

"Yes. You've broken four of her ribs!"

Mia's eyes fluttered as she opened them, and she made a sound, flinching every time she breathed. "She's out of it," Lethe murmured. "Shock…" He worked over her, trying to figure out a way to allow her to breathe without pain. But medicine had only come just so far…

"You'll save her," Marluxia said. It wasn't a question—it was an expectation.

"Marluxia, you know you're the only one here with those kind of powers." Lethe looked at him. "Unless you help her she will take at least three months to heal…if she even survives."

…

Colors…lights…pain…then darkness…That was all Mia felt for a long time before everything just got peaceful. The pain vanished, the bright light that flashed under her eyelids had stopped, and it felt like she could relax. But then, of course, she came back to consciousness and she couldn't get back to sleep. The dim light of a room she didn't know came from two candles, one by the bed and the other by the chair a man was lounging in. Marluxia.

Mia made a noise and he looked at her from the floor. "It's about time," he said. There was a hint of disgust in his voice… and something else. Something Mia couldn't quite put her finger on.

"What happened?" she asked, voice rough. "Where…where am I?"

"My room," a blond man said from a desk across the room. He looked up and smiled a friendly smile. "I'm Lethe." Mia looked at him for a moment before Marluxia said,

"Why did you go in my room?"

Lethe sighed. Was that all Marluxia cared about?

Mia blinked several times, trying to understand his question. "I was in your room?" she asked. She didn't remember that. "When did I…?"

"Don't play stupid," Marluxia sneered, standing in a threatening manner.

"Sire," Lethe said sternly. "I told you, she may not remember the last few hours." Mia looked from Marluxia and Lethe, confused.

"What?"

"Mia, you came into Marluxia's room indeed. You woke him up and, not realizing it, he threw you across the room and you hit the stone wall. You broke four ribs."

Mia's face made a series of expressions, confusion, anger, confusion again…until her face settled for a mix of confusion and anger. "He…threw me?" She gasped, looking over at Marluxia. "You _threw _me?"

"_You _woke me up." Marluxia shot back.

"Enough," Lethe said. Marluxia looked at him with murder in his eyes, but, for once, didn't kill anything. "Look, Mia, when Marluxia is…how he was earlier, it's in your best interest not to wake him."

"But…" Mia went back through her mind, trying as hard as she could to remember what brought her to his room. She could remember screaming…his face showing pain… "But he was in pain."

"I don't feel pain anymore, Mia," Marluxia snapped. She looked at him.

"Seemed like it to me."

He took a step toward her and suddenly, Lethe was blocking Marluxia's path to Mia, his hand going to his chest. "No," he said. Upper lip twitching, Marluxia smacked Lethe's hand away.

"How did you move to fast?" Mia asked. Lethe turned and smiled.

"I am an extremely fast man, milady." He replied. Lethe was very kind, and Mia liked that. So…how did he put up with Marluxia's shit?

"I'm going back to bed." Marluxia turned and left the room, Lethe looking after him; he sighed.

"Mia…Marluxia is so heartless because he once cared too much." The look she gave him had him laughing. "I'm serious, girl. Before he killed his nanny, he was indeed a sweet child. A child with strange habits, sure, but a sweet one for certain. He and I grew up together, and we have been friends for a long while. It was hard seeing his mind snap like it did."

…

_Six year old Lethe was playing outside by the ocean, making sand castles and playing with a stray cat. This was during a time where parents allowed their children over five out to play all by themselves, during a time where people were safe. _

_As Lethe played, he heard the sound of footsteps coming toward him, and he looked up, smiling when he realized it was his best friend, Marluxia. "Hi, Marlu'a," he greeted. He had a speech impediment as a child._

"_Hi!" Marluxia sat down beside his friend and began helping him build his biggest sand castle yet. _

"_Where king and keen?" Lethe asked._

"_They're in the town socializing with the other kids," Marluxia stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth as he carefully molded a griffin, like the one outside his bedroom window. _

"_Da orphans?" _

"_Yeah." Marluxia looked at Lethe. "Did you eat this morning?" He shook his head—he avoided speaking unless he had to. His friend puckered his lips and looked at a crab scurrying across the sand by the water. "But…momma told you you could come and eat any time."_

"_Me no want be greedy," Lethe replied, shaking his head fiercely, his mop of blond hair falling into his face._

"_You won't be acting greedy, Lethe. You'll be able to survive better,"_

"_No want be greedy!" He insisted, crossing his arms. Marluxia sighed. Lethe was really difficult._

_The two continued to build the current sand castle until it was complete, and they leaned back to look at their impressive work. It looked like a real castle, with sculpted roofs, statues outside the large door made to look wooden, and griffins outside the windows and on the ledges of the roof. "Not bad if I do say so myself," Marluxia said with a smile. Not the evil, broken smile he would have when he was older, but a genuine, satisfied smile. _

"_Real good!" Lethe agreed with his own smile. Marluxia looked at his friend and asked,_

"_Do you want to come back to the castle for a snack?"_

"_No greedy!"_

"_It's not being greedy, it's just getting a snack!" Marluxia grabbed Lethe's wrist and began pulling him. "Come on!"_

…

"In all actuality, I probably wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for Marluxia forcing me to eat food every three minutes," Lethe said. Mia looked at the sheets on Lethe's bed for a moment before asking,

"Why did he go insane?" Lethe sighed.

"Well, he really snapped after…after his parents were killed. But he killed his nanny Nadia when he was ten, which was three years before he lost his parents." Lethe frowned. "No one really understood why he killed Nadia, or why he liked to cut off dolls' heads and hang them upside down by their ankles off his sister's old doll houses…" He trailed off, his hands going to his hips. "I think you should go back to your own room and go to sleep. It's two in the morning." He smiled softly. "Good night, Mia."


	5. Chapter 5

"Wake up," Mia grumbled incoherently when the deep, impatient voice penetrated through her sleeping state and she rolled over, plopping a pillow over her head. "Mia. Get up." She realized vaguely that this was Marluxia, but she didn't care. She was way too sleepy still to deal with it. "Mia!"

"Go away," she moaned, waving her hand at the king. His eyes narrowed. Swiftly, he yanked the sheets off of her, exposing her to the cool air outside her warm bed; she curled into a ball and growled. Taking a few moments to admire the creamy skin of her legs, he put his hands on his hips.

"Seriously, Mia."

"Look, thanks to you I broke my ribs last night. Shouldn't I be allowed to sleep in?"

"You're fine. After I healed you…"

Mia bolted up, her green eyes suddenly wide awake, her mouth open. "_You _healed me?" she gasped. Marluxia gave a her look that asked 'And why is this a big deal?'.

"Yeah?"

"W-why?" He shrugged. "Were you made to?"

"Made to? Lethe did say that unless I did something you'd take a while to heal, and I was fine with that…" Mia rolled her eyes. "But then he said you would also possibly die." He looked down at her and shrugged again, that odd look in his eyes disappearing. "So I figured, why not?" _So he doesn't care about me. _Mia concluded in her mind.

"Are you going to get up now?"

"Why? Why do I need to get up?" she hissed. Marluxia smiled.

"Today is Friday."

"So?" His smile widened and he leaned down close to her.

"It's the Bear Ring day."

…

"You're not seriously going to make me watch a poor man be mauled by a bear?" Mia cried as he pulled her down the hall leading to the royal viewing area in the highest tower.

"You don't have to watch," he told her. "But you do have to be there."

"Why? I don't want to be there!" Marluxia stopped their walking and turned around, grabbing her by the back of her head.

"_I _want you there," he growled. "So you _will_ be there. Understand?"

"But…why do you want me there?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?" He continued pulling her down the hall and when they reached the viewing area Mia whipped her hand away. Marluxia looked at her with a dark gaze and pointed to the seat next to his, and Mia sat, biting her bottom lip.

Mia watched Marluxia during the whole thing, watched him

smile, watch the glimmer of sheer joy spark in his eyes, and she couldn't believe it. He really found enjoyment, watching people be mauled by a large grizzly bear. After the first prisoner had been mauled, Mia couldn't take it; she stood up, staring down at him with terror on her face. "How can you like this?" she cried. Not taking his eyes off the next prisoner he said,

"Sit down, Mia."

"No. No! What did those men down there do? Huh? Did they say they disagree with you, or did you just pick them out because you were bored? I say, unless they rape or kill or do both, they don't deserve death!" Her voice was bordering on hysteria, and people from down below were glancing at them, making sure not to catch Marluxia's eye.

Slowly, very slowly, he brought his eyes to look up at Mia, and they seemed almost black, that's how angry he was. "I do not care what _you _say," He said slowly. "Your opinion does not matter." He stood and reached for Mia; she skittered back, much like a terrified animal cornered by a predator. Enraged, he lunged at her, and she jumped out of his path, knocking into the door and ripping it open, running through it and back into the castle. "Dammit!" He swore, going after her.

She bolted down the many corridors of the castle, not knowing if she was headed in the right direction, she tripped down a flight of stairs, ignoring the pain in her ankle as she scrambled up, tears streaming down her face as she pushed on. She could hear Marluxia in fast pursuit behind her, and as she rounded the corner she realized she'd reached a dead-end; the door at the end of the hall was locked. She spun around to see Marluxia at the end of the hall, glaring at her with a dark gaze, his hands balled into fists, and she sank down to the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest and covering her head with her arms, expecting a beating.

But it didn't come.

Marluxia stared at her, all curled up in that ball form, and it reminded him…It reminded him of how his mother looked before she died. He sank to his knees and crawled the last few feet over to her, his hand going to her hair; it was the only part of her head he could touch. She flinched and whimpered, terrified. And what he said next had them both shocked. "I won't…I won't hurt you." Mia looked up at him, her green eyes red and shiny from the tears of fear she'd been sheading, her lips parted and her cheeks flushed. Marluxia thought she was so pretty.

He moved his fingers from between her soft red hair to her porcelain cheek, stroking over that unbelievably soft skin with his thumb, leaning forward to brush his lips against hers. She made a noise, full of fear and confusion, and he lifted her up, turning to take her to her room.

…

He had laid her on her back, he had climbed over top of her, and he began kissing her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, her closed eyes, her lips, and her neck. "Marluxia…" she whispered.

"Let me," he mumbled against her skin. "Let me kiss you." Ah… she was so warm, so soft…So yielding. He gently scraped his teeth down her ear lobe, and she shuddered, whimpering. He shushed her and took her face in his hands, pressing his lips to hers and gently forcing them apart to slide his tongue inside her soft mouth; he groaned. She tasted so good.

Honestly, he was surprised when she kissed back, when she moved her tongue experimentally against his then retreated, shying away. His left hand fisted in the sheets next to her head, trapping some of her hair into it, in an effort not to start touching her—he normally took what he wanted, but he knew she wasn't ready yet. And for once, he actually didn't want her to fear him.

Mia moaned in pain when he moved a certain way, and he pulled away, frowning down at her. "My…my ankle," She whispered. "I hurt it."

"How?" Mia felt her cheeks grow warm.

"When I was running away from you. I fell down a few steps." Marluxia looked down at her ankles.

"Which one?"

"The right one," she replied. Nodding slightly, he took her right ankle—she flinched—and he ran his thumb, a bit too firmly, over it. She couldn't believe it when she didn't feel pain anymore. "H-how did you…?"

"It's how I healed your ribs. I have healing abilities." He looked up at her and gave her a side smile. Not a cruel smile, not an evil smile, but a rather cute, sheepish smile, a smile that she found she loved.

She looked down at her ankle and moved it experimentally; it didn't hurt at all. "Healing abilities…" she repeated quietly. Then, why didn't he use them to help people? What, was he mentally incapable of doing that? She wondered, but didn't dare ask him.

"Better?" he asked. She nodded, glancing up at him. "Good."

He kept her in her room all night. They didn't have sex, but Marluxia did have her strip down to her underdress, the dress she usually wore to bed anyway, and he had rid himself of his shirt and shoes. He talked to her, asked her how her life had been, mainly before he took over as king, and he learned a few interesting things; her middle name was Elizabeth, she was eighteen, she loved anything blue…simple things, but things he hadn't known about her before. "When's your birthday?" He asked her.

"May tenth," she replied.

"Hm. Mine's a day after yours." She smiled a little and looked down at her hands. "Mia." She looked back up and saw Marluxia's face looked very serious, and she swallowed. "No one will know of how I've treated you tonight, do you understand?" She nodded.

"Yes."

He reached for her, and she flinched—though, it wasn't as bad as before where she would move a full foot away from him—but he merely ran his fingers over her cheek. "You're mine, Mia." He told her.

"Do you kill what's yours?" she asked in a whisper. Marluxia smiled.

"Well, Ryder is mine, and I haven't killed him." Ryder was his white horse, the one he had since it was a foal. Mia laughed once and ran a hand through her hair. "I won't kill you," Marluxia said.

"What about when you don't want me anymore?"

Marluxia gave her a look and he slowly shook his head. "You find the worst in everything, don't you? I won't stop wanting you. I mean, I'm older than you, right? So you really shouldn't be worried," His smile became dark. "Besides, all the other women in this village are rather…overlookable, and you, you are so beautiful." He pulled her to his lap and kissed the exposed skin of her chest, pushing the straps of her nightgown down her shoulders.

"Marluxia…" Her plea asked him to stop, and he held her closer, telling her he wouldn't hurt her. He pushed her to her back, nuzzling against her soft skin.

"I will have you," he whispered in her ear. "All of you." She knew that. She knew one day, he'd take her, whether she was ready or not.


	6. Chapter 6

When she awoke the next morning Marluxia wasn't with her, and she felt strangely…cold. When she had fallen asleep against his chest she had actually never felt so warm and comfortable before in her life. Slowly she sat up, blinking in the dull light of early morning, and pulled herself out of bed. It was when she opened her armoire that she realized something wasn't right—all her clothes were gone. Frowning, she opened the drawers beneath the main closet and found those were empty too. "What…?"

"I moved everything," Gasping, Mia jumped up, hitting her head on the open doors above her. Marluxia laughed.

"Why—ow—why did you move everything?" His smile became devious.

"Why, because from now on you'll be sleeping in my room with me." Mia blinked several times.

"Um…why do you want me to sleep in the same room as you?"

"In the same bed," he added. "And because I said so, that's why. Now, come on." He took her wrist and led her down the stone steps all the way across the castle, up two flights of steps and down a long hall with only one door way down at the very end of it. "This is where you'll sleep from now on."

He opened the wooden door to reveal a large bedroom with a big fireplace with a warm fire burning in it, two blue velvet chairs placed in front of it, a huge, round bed with thick, soft looking silk blue sheets covering it, an armoire, and two doors on either side of it. There were two tall windows beside the bed with dark blue curtains covering them, and the same windows with the dressings resided on either side of the fireplace. Mia noticed how mostly everything in the room was blue. Marluxia must have taken into account that she loved the color blue.

"Wow," she whispered. He didn't ask if she liked it, almost like he didn't care if she liked it or not, but she knew he did. He moved his hand to stroke down her red hair and said,

"Isn't it bath time?" Mia's heart stuttered and she sucked her lips in.

"For…me," she replied timidly. Marluxia put his hand on the small of her back and pushed her to the door to the left side of the armoire.

"The bathroom's in there," he told her. _If he follows me, I don't know what I'm going to do. _Mia thought frantically as she walked the rest of the way to the bathroom door and opened it. When she got the feeling that he wasn't going to follow her in she closed the door and looked around the relatively large bathroom.

The castle was the only place Mia knew of that had running water, so, unlike everyone else the surrounding area, they didn't have to bring in buckets of water to fill the tub. They also had these knobs on the sides of these things Marluxia called toilets that flushed away waste! Taking a breath, Mia turned the water for the tub on and watched as it slowly filled up.

She didn't like her body. She never really did—most of the knights in town liked to abuse the older children, and she had been severely beaten when she was fourteen. There were scars on her belly and back, across her right thigh, and there were a couple of scars on her arms. Marluxia had asked her about them last night and she just downplayed them, saying she fell when she was little. So Mia hated it when she noticed there was a large mirror on the wall by the closet door. "What happened to you?" Mia gave a startled scream when Marluxia's voice penetrated the quiet and turned her head to look at him, covering herself.

He walked over to her, staring at her back, then once he reached her he kneeled down and ran his fingers over the scars. "Scars…" He looked back up at her, his brow furrowed, and asked again, "What happened?" Swallowing, Mia replied,

"Four years ago, I was beaten,"

"By who?" Marluxia would have the assailants annihilated. How dare someone hurt his Mia? She stared at him for a bit, trying to measure his reaction to what she was about to say, but Marluxia was so damn unpredictable she wasn't quite sure how he would react.

"Your soldiers," she whispered. "Do you not remember? I had to plead with you to not kill Mark for protecting me."

"You…I met you before?"

He didn't remember that. He didn't remember her begging him to spare the life of her older brother…and he also didn't remember ever granting someone mercy. And his look told her he didn't remember. Taking a breath, Mia lifted her arms from their protective place in front of her chest and pushed her bangs back from her face, clearing her forehead, and moved her hair to hide behind her back, so he could only see it fall to her collarbone. She looked at him and whispered, "Please."

Then he could barely remember, a girl, her clothes torn from being whipped so hard, a girl, with short blood red hair, wide, scared green eyes, and a soft, beautiful voice.

…

_Seventeen year old Marluxia watched with amusement as a boy around his age wrestled with two of his soldiers, trying to protect the girl they had been beating. The girl was pleading for the boy to stop, to just let the soldiers do their job, and Marluxia dismounted his horse, sauntering over to them. He pushed the soldiers to the side and grabbed the boy by his hair, smiling at him. "You should know not to interfere with my soldiers' work," he said, wagging his finger. He pushed the boy to the soldiers he'd been fighting and said, "Take him away."_

"_No!"_

_He was grabbed by the back of his shirt, and he whipped around, smacking the girl's hand off of him. "Excuse you?" he growled._

"_Please. Please don't take him away!" she begged with a childish voice. _

"_Why should I grant him mercy?" Marluxia questioned, debating on whether or not to kill her, too._

"_He's all I have," she replied. "Please, please don't kill him, I couldn't take it if he died." Marluxia cocked his head._

"_Why do you think I care?"_

"_Please!" The girl grabbed his shirt with her small hands and managed to pull him a couple feet closer to her, staring up at him with big, sad green eyes. So beautiful…_

_Gripping her hands and pulling them off him he growled, "Fine. Release the boy." His soldiers exchanged looks before pushing the boy back to the girl; they threw their arms around each other. Narrowing his eyes, Marluxia turned to go back to his castle, not quite sure why he obeyed the girl's wish._

…

"That was you?" he murmured. Yes, yes, it was Mia. Younger, childish Mia. He moved his gaze to her, sweeping his eyes down her torso to see the scars covering her flat belly, and he moved his hand to touch them. She made a noise, a scared noise, and covered his hand with both of hers, but his hand still moved over her, making her belly tremble. Ticklish? His hand moved lower still and she whispered,

"Please, no."

"Don't want me to touch you?" he asked in the same tone.

"Not right now. Please." She looked at him to see him smiling a bit, and his hand moved up, up her belly, between her breasts, to cup her face. He leaned forward and kissed her, keeping her to him for a bit before telling her how beautiful she was and leaving.


End file.
